[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57694-57695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-27825]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-99-6157; Notice 2]


Pipeline Safety: OPS Response Plan Review and Exercise Programs

AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations and 
Department of Transportation policy, the Research and Special Programs 
Administration (RSPA) has made a finding that the Office of Pipeline 
Safety's (OPS) Response Plan Review and Exercise Program will have no 
significant impacts on the environment.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This finding of no significant impact is effective 
October 26, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Taylor, OPS, (202) 366-8860, 
regarding the subject matter of this notice. Contact the Dockets Unit, 
(202) 366-5046, for docket material. Comments may also be reviewed 
online at the DOT Docket Management System website at http://
dms.dot.gov/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1990, the United States Congress passed 
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), to 
improve the nation's ability to respond to and limit the economic and 
environmental impact from, marine spills of oil and other pollutants. 
Section 4202 of the OPA modifies the planning and response system 
created under the authority of Section 311(j) of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act). OPA required 
response plans for vessels and facilities that produce, store, 
transport, refine, and market oil.
    Just as oil tankers are required to submit oil spill response plans 
to the Coast Guard and refineries are required to submit such plans to 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), oil pipelines are required 
to submit their facility response plans to OPS for review and approval. 
To date, more than 1300 facility response plans have been submitted to 
OPS. They represent some 200 oil pipeline operators, and lines that 
vary in size from 3-inch gathering systems to 36-inch product lines to 
the 48-inch Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. OPS conducts a thorough 
review of the plans, with particular emphasis on the adequacy of the 
pipeline operator's response resources, incident command system, and 
ability to protect environmentally sensitive areas from harm. OPS also 
makes sure that the plans are consistent with both the National 
Contingency Plan and the local Area Contingency Plan, which are 
developed by Coast Guard and EPA.
    In addition to reviewing operators' plans, OPS conducts exercises 
to test pipeline operators' ability to implement their facility 
response plans. To date, OPS has conducted sixty-nine Tabletop 
Exercises, scenario-driven discussions in which operators explain how 
they would implement their plans to respond to a worst-case spill. OPS 
has also

[[Page 57695]]

conducted nine full-scale Area Exercises with pipeline operators in 
which they deploy people and equipment to the field in response to a 
simulated spill. In both Tabletop and Area Exercises, OPS makes every 
effort to have other Federal, State, and local environmental and 
emergency response agencies participate. Their participation makes 
exercises more realistic, and builds relationships between industry and 
public sector responders that make the response to real spills go more 
smoothly.
    OPS prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to examine the 
environmental impacts of the Response Plan Review and Exercise Program 
(64 FR 47228). The EA concisely described OPS's recent review of the 
program's effectiveness, its proposed action to continue implementing 
the current program, the alternative programmatic approaches 
considered, the environment affected by this action, the consequences 
to the environment of the alternatives considered, and a list of the 
agencies and organizations consulted. In the EA, OPS preliminarily 
concluded that continuing the current program would not have 
significant environmental impacts. This conclusion was based on the 
fact that the program is now mature, and the proposed action to 
continue the current program will not have any significant 
environmental impact.
    OPS received one public comment on the EA, which came from an 
environmental organization in Alaska. The commenter claimed that, (1) 
the EA inadequately addressed the threats to the environment from the 
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and should not be considered a 
sufficient environmental analysis for the TAPS lease renewal, (2) the 
EA failed to mention specific pipelines and unique problems associated 
with specific pipelines, and (3) OPS did not consider an alternative 
that would be more protective of the environment, and should prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) which more fully considers 
environmental effects of its program. These points will be addressed in 
order.
    (1) The TAPS lease agreement is between Alyeska Pipeline Service 
Company (the seven company consortium that owns and operates the TAPS), 
the State of Alaska, and the Bureau of Land Management in the 
Department of the Interior. Working through the Joint Pipeline Office, 
OPS expects to participate in the TAPS lease renewal EIS process as a 
cooperating agency. However, OPS is not a party to the lease agreement 
and does not have authority to approve or disapprove the lease renewal. 
That decision rests solely with the State of Alaska and the Department 
of the Interior.
    (2) The EA was a programmatic document, and as such was not 
intended to address issues associated with the TAPS or any other 
specific pipeline. Rather, the EA was meant to assess the impact of our 
program, which involves over 200 oil pipeline operators nationwide.
    (3) The EA described the statutory basis for the program, its 
requirements, and its benefits in improved response capability on the 
part of oil pipeline operators nationwide. OPS believes that the EA 
provides sufficient information to allow a comprehensive evaluation of 
our Response Plan Review and Exercise Program. The EA was intended to 
address the overall program and not the issues associated with a 
specific pipeline. As for question of whether another alternative more 
protective of the environment was considered, OPS may consider, on a 
case by case basis, more stringent spill response requirements for a 
particular operator on the basis of the operator's spill history or 
other risk factors. Such individual cases are, however, outside the 
scope of this programmatic EA.
    Based on the analysis and conclusions reached in the EA, OPS has 
found that there are no significant impacts on the environment 
associated with this action. The EA and the documents are incorporated 
by reference into this FONSI. To summarize, the reason that the program 
will not have a significant effect on the human environment is that the 
program is designed to improve pipeline operators' ability to respond 
effectively to oil spills, and the national trends in accident data 
support that conclusion. While there was a marked improvement in spill 
response preparedness and environmental protection shortly after 
implementing the Response Plan Review and Exercise Program in 1993, the 
program is now mature. Hence, the proposed action to continue the 
current program will not have any significant environmental impact. 
This rationale is further discussed in the EA referenced above.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 20, 1999.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 99-27825 Filed 10-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P